One Day
by MistOfGrayDawn
Summary: A fire needs a spark to ignite, just as hatred needs something to cause it. AU a glimpse into Tigerstar's past and what helped make him who he was.


**Summary: Tigerclaw wasn't always the cold, spiteful warrior we know him to be. What if it wasn't his fault or Thistleclaw's? One-shot.**

"Come on, Tigerkit, play with me!" The voice of Thornkit called to Tigerkit from a few tail-lengths away from the nursery. The two kits were only three moons old, not old enough to become apprentices but still almost too energetic for the nursery. The dark tabby kit was reluctant to join his younger sibling, finding him quite annoying at times.

Thornkit had always been the baby, the one whom every cat adored. He and Thornkit were likely their mother's last litter, so they were especially important to her. Well, Thornkit was. Tigerkit, being the oldest, had often been passed over, all the attention going to his little brother. The younger kit's fluffy golden fur, adoring blue eyes, and innocent nature made him a favorite among the queens and elders. Tigerkit on the other hand, with his dark tabby pelt, intense amber eyes, and thoughtful, serious character meant he was often overlooked.

Tigerkit sighed, but he was bored and familiar enough with Thornkit that it wouldn't look like he was attacking. He stood up, stretching. He was big for three moons and much larger and stronger than his sibling. "Ok," he said, padding over to Thornkit. "Let's be warriors. You be a ShadowClan warrior, and I'll be a ThunderClan warrior defending the territory."

"Yay!" exclaimed the golden kit in a manner that struck a chord of annoyance in Tigerkit. He had to suppress the urge to swat Thornkit's ear as he turned away.

The two kits faced each other a few tail-lengths apart, crouching into inexperienced fighting stances. The dark tabby kit analyzed his opponent's stare, seeing where he was looking, so he knew exactly where Thornkit was aiming when the golden-furred kit launched himself at Tigerkit. The amber-eyed kit easily sidestepped his brother's attack, letting him land in the dust behind him. Tigerkit took advantage of the time it took for Thornkit to recover and pounced on his shoulders, crushing the smaller kit beneath him. Thornkit squealed, yowling with his muzzle pressed into the dirt, "Tigerkit, get off, you're crushing me!"

Tigerkit felt a pang of annoyance at his brother's ability to spoil a good fight. He leapt off, throwing a resentful glance at the kit picking himself up off the ground. "Sorry," he said halfheartedly, more disappointed at the end of the fight than really apologizing.

Thornkit's features contorted angrily as he rushed at Tigerkit again, half-yowling, "You mean old badger!" as he crashed into his older sibling with teeth and claws unsheathed. Tigerkit hadn't been expecting the counterattack and was knocked backwards. He yowled, more in anger than pain, as he felt claws rake his ear.

Thornkit's surprise advantage quickly faded as they rolled across the clearing, and Tigerkit used his size to land momentarily on top of Thornkit, pressing both hind paws softly into Thornkit's stomach with his claws just nicking Thornkit's nose. Tigerkit's momentum kept him rolling, and he broke contact with his brother, letting him hit the ground while Tigerkit rolled smoothly to his paws, fur fluffed up with anger still burning in his amber eyes.

He half-sheathed his claws as Thornkit lay unmoving for a moment, his body heaving. Then the golden tom rose to his paws, hurt and anger showing in his blue eyes. He threw a hateful glare at Tigerkit before running to the nursery, yowling pitifully for their mother.

Tigerkit hissed under his breath, dragging his paws to the nursery as well. He ought to be there to tell his side of the story, he thought.

"Mother!" Thornkit wailed pitifully, "Tigerkit hurt me! I was only playing, and he hurt me on purpose!"

"That's not true!" snarled Tigerkit, flattening his ears.

The bewildered tabby queen looked from Thornkit to Tigerkit, her expression changing. "Tigerkit!" she meowed angrily. "You know better than to hurt your brother! Why would you do that when you know he's a lot smaller than you?"

Tigerkit seethed in silence. This had happened enough times before for him to know better than to answer.

"Tigerkit, you're to stay in the nursery while I take Thornkit to Goosefeather," Leopardfoot said commandingly. "Speckletail, would you keep an eye on Tigerkit while I'm gone?"

Speckletail gave a sleepy nod and put her head back down, shifting in her mossy nest. Tigerkit stalked into the nursery, seething. It was empty except for him and Speckletail and her kits, which were sleeping. The amber-eyed kit took one look at Speckletail and knew she was more interested in looking at the insides of her eyelids than looking at him.

Tigerkit silently squeezed through a small gap in the brambles surrounding the nursery, slipping out into the forest. He was far away from camp when he couldn't hold it back anymore. Flames of rage blazed in his amber eyes as he slashed at the bark of a tree, imagining it was Thornkit. He shredded the leaves of a nearby bush, scoring deep gouges in the ground. Tigerkit's unusually long front claws left deep scores in the tree bark, fury lending strength to his small body.

Once he had vented most of his rage, Tigerkit's serious, calculating nature returned. He began thinking of impractical but nasty ways to get back at Thornkit. The flames of rage blazing in his belly slowly solidified into cold hatred, its icy touch permeating every inch of him. Calmly the young tom sat back, a small but malicious smirk creeping onto his face. Cold fire burned in his belly, a constant reminder of the wrongs done to him.

He padded calmly through the forest, tail raised and head held high. This forest belonged to him, he knew, and no cat was going to take it away. Tigerkit thought with a flash of icy hatred of Thornkit, the root of all his problems in the clan. The amber-eyed kit had to suppress a snarl, clenching his jaw. This was not the time. _But one day it will be,_ Tigerkit thought, the cold smirk twisting his features once again. The cold fire burned even stronger in his gut, and Tigerkit's primal instincts shrieked for vengeance. He kept his emotions in check, although they constantly whispered in his ears, tantalizing him with thoughts of sweet revenge. One day, he thought, he would show them who really the better one was. He would show them all.


End file.
